Nestled deep within the Clear Sky Ridge, a quiet village lay hidden beneath mist and pine. This small, forgotten settlement rested on the western fringe of Fasinuo Province, just within the borders of the Balak Kingdom, part of the vast Heaven Dou Empire. Far from the noise of courts and academies, life here was simple, ruled by tradition, spirit power, and the slow turning of seasons. But tonight, the winds that passed over its rooftops carried rain.
The first breath entered his lungs, bitter and warm.
The stifling scent of blood, smoke, and sweat clung to the air as a newborn's first cry pierced the night. Outside, rain fell lightly. The crackling of an old fireplace danced with the howling wind.
But within that cry, there was no fear. No confusion.
Only silence.
Inside the baby's pitch-black eyes, depthless as ancient wells, consciousness stirred. Not the innocent, muddled mind of a new soul, but the cold, sharpened awareness of one who had peered across the cosmos and perished.
'I am alive?' thought Fang Yuan.
The mind behind the gaze was no ordinary one. He had once held a name feared across starfields: Fang Yuan. Gu Master. Demon. Venerable. But even those titles collapsed under the weight of true power.
He had clawed his way through countless tribulations, sacrificed humanity and heaven alike, and neared the edge of immortality. He had stood on the cusp of Rank 10, the forbidden gate no one before had breached.
But the heavens could not allow it.
They came. From distant skies and alternate timelines. From pocket dimensions. Venerables and those from foreign planes descended together.
"After stepping into half-step Rank 10, the sky shattered. Realms tore open. They came for me. Not just one, but many worlds."
His breath was now shallow, forced through feeble lungs. His muscles weak, body unfamiliar, thoughts dulled by the new vessel.
'This is… a human infant's body.'
'So… this is the cost of survival. Rebirth, in a new realm again.'
A voice, gentle and worn, cooed near him.
"Congrats, ma'am. He is a boy," said The Midwife.
"Let me see him," came a soft exhausted voice.
A woman, tears in her eyes, held him with trembling hands. Her face bore the tired beauty of a blonde rural mother, lips curled with awe and fatigue. Her name, he would later learn, was Liu Mei. His mother in this life.
"He looks so pretty. He will be a handsome man when he grows up," she said.
"Sure, and a strong spirit master as well. He and his brother will make an amazing team, no?" said the man beside her, Fang Mu, his father. With a barely noticble energy in his body. In his youth, he had awakened with enough spirit power to earn the village's respect, but never enough to rise beyond the dust of obscurity.
"Absolutely," Liu Mei replied, then smiled weakly. "But don't you think it's too early to think of his career as a spirit master? Let's plan these things when he turns six."
"I know, honey. You don't want to see him in danger, but don't worry. He has a strong father and a talented brother who can become a spirit king which can ensure his safety. It is not like he is an orphan." He said.
'Since I came to this world, I feel some kind of energy in the environment. Spirit energy? Is that what a spirit master controls? Even if it's too faint for me to fully sense, it's definitely there,' thought Fang Yuan.
"Mom, Dad, let me see my little brother!" said a young voice.
A boy ran in, about six years old. His hair was yellow like gold , his presence proud like a golden lion cub.
"Show Fang Yuan to him," Liu Mei said with a smile.
'So this is the one who walks ahead of me in this life," Fang Yuan observed in silence. "An older, They have said talented, and already pampered by the village. Will I have worse talent again?'
"Don't worry, little brother. I will protect you with my life," said the older brother holding out his index finger.
Fang Yuan smiled and, with his tiny fist, touched his brother's finger, making the entire family laugh in a joyful atmosphere.
"This world… is going to be interesting. But I wonder, is there fate in this world as well?" he mused.
Time passed.
A week. Then a month.
At three months old, he could roll. At six, he could crawl. His growth appeared normal outwardly.
But inside, Fang Yuan noticed something. He could see traces of energy in the air.
"Having reached half-step to Divinity... at least some benefits remain," Fang Yuan muttered as his eyes followed the faint flows.
"Spirit energy... I had a hypothesis, but now I'm sure. I've seen this before though it's much weaker here. This is Douluo Dalu? Who would've thought. You came to me once, and now I've come to you." He said to himself.
That night, while others slept, he lay still on a straw bed in the family house.
"Across countless lives, I've seen innumerable systems. In the end, power is never fair. It flows toward those with clarity... and conviction."
He spoke aloud, voice soft and steady. "This world may call me crippled, but they do not know what true power is."
Outside, the village of Clear Sky Ridge slept.
Crickets sang beneath the moon. Wolves howled in the distance.
And within one house, a baby's eyes remained wide open reflecting not the confusion of infancy, but the chill of ambition.
"In the end," he thought, "beneath true immortality, there is no difference between a mortal, an immortal... and a venerable."
His lips curled slightly.
His tiny fingers twitched not in reflex, but in will.
The child thought deeply that night.
Only the fire in his eyes spoke quiet and eternal.